Chef Lupita
Acúmara Tatemada al Comal
Michoacán's Lake Pátzcuaro acúmara, a whole kurucha from the lago tatemada on a comal de leña and served with chile perón atápakua, corn tortillas, and P'urhépecha discipline.
Culinary Explorer
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Chochos en Tomachile de Los Tuxtlas
Created by
Veracruz's Los Tuxtlas palm flower stew, built from foraged chochos, roasted jitomate de bola, chile chipotle seco, chile ancho, and acuyo, the red pot you eat with black beans and hot corn tortillas.
Main Dishes
Mexican
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
Weeknight
35 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr 20 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings
Veracruz, Los Tuxtlas, is where chochos en tomachile belongs. Not the port with olives and capers, not the northern cattle country, but the humid volcanic lowlands around San Andres Tuxtla, Santiago Tuxtla, and Catemaco, where the market baskets carry palm flower buds when the season is right.
Chochos are tender unopened palm flowers, often sold as tepejilote or pacaya in other regions. In Los Tuxtlas they are cleaned, blanched to tame their bitterness, then stewed in tomachile: roasted jitomate de bola with chile chipotle seco, a little chile ancho for body, onion, garlic, and hoja santa, which Veracruz calls acuyo. That leaf is not decoration. It is the smell of the region.
I learned this pot from a señora near the Catemaco market who cooked it in a clay cazuela with black beans waiting on the side. She told me the sauce had to be fried before the chochos went in, because raw tomato tastes like laziness. She was right. The dish is vegetarian because the land made it that way, not because anyone was trying to impress a menu. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
In Los Tuxtlas, chochos refers to tender palm inflorescences, especially tepejilote or pacaya, gathered from the humid lowland forests and sold seasonally in local markets. The word tomachile joins two Nahuatl food words, tomatl and chilli, and in Veracruz it describes the practical red sauce made by roasting tomato and chile, grinding them, then frying the sauce before the main ingredient is stewed. This dish sits inside the older indigenous lowland pattern of maize, beans, chiles, wild greens, palm flowers, and acuyo, long before Veracruz's better-known Spanish coastal cooking added olives, capers, and almonds.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh chochos, tender unopened palm flower buds
Quantity
1 1/2 pounds
outer bracts removed and tough bases trimmed
kosher salt
Quantity
2 tablespoons, divided, plus more to taste
jitomate de bola
Quantity
6 ripe, about 2 pounds
halved
white onion
Quantity
1 medium
half cut into wedges and half finely chopped
garlic cloves
Quantity
4
unpeeled
dried chile chipotle seco or chile comapeno
Quantity
2
stemmed and seeded
dried chile ancho
Quantity
1
stemmed and seeded
aceite de maiz or other neutral corn oil
Quantity
2 tablespoons
hoja santa, also called acuyo
Quantity
1 large leaf
torn once
chocho blanching water or plain water
Quantity
1/2 cup, plus more as needed
dried Mexican oregano
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional)
Quantity
for serving
warmed
frijoles negros de olla (optional)
Quantity
for serving
lime halves (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh chochos, tender unopened palm flower budsouter bracts removed and tough bases trimmed | 1 1/2 pounds |
| kosher salt | 2 tablespoons, divided, plus more to taste |
| jitomate de bolahalved | 6 ripe, about 2 pounds |
| white onionhalf cut into wedges and half finely chopped | 1 medium |
| garlic clovesunpeeled | 4 |
| dried chile chipotle seco or chile comapenostemmed and seeded | 2 |
| dried chile anchostemmed and seeded | 1 |
| aceite de maiz or other neutral corn oil | 2 tablespoons |
| hoja santa, also called acuyotorn once | 1 large leaf |
| chocho blanching water or plain water | 1/2 cup, plus more as needed |
| dried Mexican oregano | 1/2 teaspoon |
| hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional)warmed | for serving |
| frijoles negros de olla (optional) | for serving |
| lime halves (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •12-inch clay cazuela or heavy wide skillet
- •Cast iron comal for roasting vegetables and toasting chiles
- •Blender or volcanic stone molcajete
- •Deep pot for blanching the chochos
Instructions
- 1
Clean the chochos
Pull away any tough outer bracts from the chochos and trim the woody bases. Cut large pieces into 2-inch lengths, leaving tender buds whole. Rinse well. These are palm flower buds, not lupini beans and not artichokes. In Los Tuxtlas the women at the market will hand you the bundle and expect you to know what to do with it.
- 2
Blanch the bitterness
Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a deep pot and add 1 tablespoon of salt. Add the chochos and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the thickest pieces are tender when pierced but still hold their shape. The water may turn pale green and smell grassy. That is the bitterness leaving. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then drain the chochos.
Do not skip the blanching. Raw chochos can be bitter and fibrous. The first pot of water is for cleaning the flavor, not for building the sauce. - 3
Toast the chiles
Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile chipotle seco and chile ancho separately, pressing each one flat for a few seconds per side until fragrant and just softened. The ancho turns sweet and raisiny. The chipotle gives smoke and depth. Do not blacken them. Burned chile makes bitter tomachile and there is no fixing it later.
- 4
Soak the chiles
Put the toasted chiles in a small bowl and cover with hot water, not boiling water. Let them soften for 15 minutes. Hot water relaxes the flesh. Boiling water roughs up the skins and can make the sauce taste harsh. Así se hace y punto.
- 5
Roast the vegetables
On the same comal, roast the halved jitomate de bola, onion wedges, and unpeeled garlic. Turn them until the tomato skins blister, the onion edges char lightly, and the garlic softens inside its peel. This is where tomachile gets its body. Raw tomato in a blender is not the same thing.
- 6
Blend the tomachile
Peel the roasted garlic. Drain the chiles and put them in a blender with the roasted jitomates, roasted onion, peeled garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 cup reserved chocho water. Blend until smooth but not thin. Tomachile is a home cook's red pot sauce, not a strained restaurant puree. It should have weight.
- 7
Fry the sauce
Heat the aceite de maiz in a 12-inch clay cazuela or heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the finely chopped onion and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes. Pour in the blended tomachile carefully. It will sputter. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce darkens to brick red and a little oil gathers at the edges. This frying step wakes up the chile and tomato. No me vengas con atajos.
- 8
Stew the chochos
Add the blanched chochos, hoja santa, dried Mexican oregano, and a splash more reserved water if the sauce is too tight. Simmer gently for 12 to 15 minutes, folding the chochos through the sauce until every piece is coated and the acuyo has perfumed the pot. Do not boil hard after the hoja santa goes in. Too much heat makes it taste medicinal.
- 9
Rest and serve
Taste for salt and let the cazuela rest off the heat for 10 minutes. The sauce will settle and cling to the chochos. Serve family-style with warm hand-pressed corn tortillas, frijoles negros de olla, and lime halves if you want brightness. This is Veracruz lowland cooking: vegetable, chile, corn, bean, and patience. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.
Chef Tips
- •Chochos are seasonal. Ask for them in markets around San Andres Tuxtla, Santiago Tuxtla, Catemaco, or at vendors who sell tepejilote or pacaya. If the market is not selling them, cook something else that day. The calendar belongs to the ingredient.
- •If you only find jarred or canned pacaya, rinse it well and blanch it for 5 minutes before stewing. It is a compromise, not an upgrade. Fresh chochos have a grassy firmness that canned ones lose.
- •Chile comapeno from Veracruz is closer to the regional flavor than a generic chipotle. If you can get it, use it. If not, chile chipotle seco gives the right smoke. Do not use canned chipotle en adobo here. The vinegar and sugar turn the tomachile into another sauce.
- •Hoja santa and acuyo are the same leaf. Buy leaves that are broad, flexible, and fragrant. If they smell faint or dusty, they are old. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado.
- •This dish is not supposed to be hot just to prove something. The chiles give smoke, color, and depth. Not all Mexican food is built to burn your mouth. That idea is lazy.
Advance Preparation
- •The chochos can be cleaned and blanched one day ahead. Cool them, refrigerate them in a covered container, and stew them in the tomachile the next day.
- •The tomachile sauce can be made up to 2 days ahead. Reheat it in the cazuela, then add the blanched chochos and acuyo.
- •Finished chochos en tomachile keep refrigerated for 3 days. Reheat gently with a splash of water. The sauce gets deeper overnight, but the chochos should not be boiled hard a second time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 245g)
Calories
145 calories
Total Fat
7 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
6 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
1150 mg
Total Carbohydrates
19 g
Dietary Fiber
7 g
Sugars
9 g
Protein
4 g
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